


Stay for Her

by Akifall



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fix-It, Fluff, Minor Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister, Post-Episode: s08e04 The Last of the Starks, Pregnancy, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-02-28 16:25:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18760087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akifall/pseuds/Akifall
Summary: Jaime turned away from Brienne, to protect her.When the war is won, he'll come back for her.





	Stay for Her

**Author's Note:**

> 8x04 killed me. I was so angry and upset and I literally just sat down and cried for a bit because I could not stand seeing Brienne broken like that. I don't believe D&D at all when they say Jaime is still in love with Cersei, I think they just want to purposely hurt us for drama. Brienne and Jaime should be endgame even if he dies and to give us one episode where they built Brienne up and brought her walls down to just make her seem like she's not important to Jaime at all.  
> They made it seem like passion was driving Jaime and not love- and that really really upsets me. We see all the pretty girls get kissed tenderly, and yet with Brienne and Jaime- it has to be harsh and sharp and quick. So I'm late to this sorry. I spent two days writing and rewriting this, and I'm sorry if it sucks- I'm just very upset at the moment.

Sometime's Jaime dreams his right hand is rotting in front of his eyes.

He's dreaming of Cersei again and every time he watches himself fight for her, his hand becomes corrupted, black like the color of a bad apple.

In his dream's he's beautiful but arrogant- everyone eyes him like they want a bite of him but as Cersei takes that bite there's rotten juice spilling into their mouths.

Each child birthed is poisoned and weak, never set to survive the Winter.

Jaime only wakes moments after Lady Catelyn steps into his cage, and before he can see the figure behind her, Jaime wakes up.

He's only a few miles away from Kingslanding now, less than a day's ride.

The family he came with, took shelter before reaching the capital and provided him with what little they had.

They don't know he's Ser Jaime Lannister, they don't know that their Queen is his sister.

His sword is hidden under his cloak and he threw his golden hand into a winter lake when his emotions were running high.

He's just a cripple to them, someone that cannot fend for themselves.

As Jaime takes his place on the back on the cart and sags against the hay, the eldest child sits with him but they did not talk. Instead, they watch the woodland disappear behind them and the sky become black with smoke.

The wheel on his right is heavy and gritted with mud- Jaime wonders how long it's been in that state.

-

When Jaime departs from the family, he's handed a copper Star and 3 copper pieces. It's obviously a lot of money to this poor family and at first, Jaime wants to decline it- but he honestly has no money to call his own and instead vows to return it if he should survive.

He trades 2 coppers for half a skin of water and an old bread roll and then sits in an alley and washes in street water.

He can barely see his skin under all the muck, but it's when he shakes his head that really gets him.

Pieces of golden hay fall in front of him, and it almost breaks him when he recalls his hand sweeping through her hair, and her eyes twinkling with happiness in front of him.

When Jaime is broken out of his daydream, those blue pure eyes turn back to the dirty puddle and Jaime realizes a bit too late that the roll has fallen from his pocket and is being feasted upon by a murder of crows.

-

It takes him a while to get into the castle, but the method he uses isn't exactly the most secretive of ways.

He's caught within moments.

Widow's Wail is revealed and taken straight to the Queen and Jaime is thrown into the castle dungeons.

By now Jaime knows the stench of death better than any flower- and it's only confirmed by the skeleton in his cell which is briefly illuminated by the passing torch, wielded by the patrolling guard.

Jaime knows that Widow's Wail will alert Cersei of his arrival and in a couple of hours she will no doubt come for him.

So he tucks himself into the furthest corner and finally lets himself to go back to Winterfell.

Back to _her_.

Her giggling bounces off the cell walls and he cannot help smiling as he remembers folding his arms around her front from behind, he remembers her chewing on her bottom lip and looking back at him with pure happiness and he looks into those blue eyes with nothing but adoration.

He doesn't know he's mumbling until the cell door is open and he's being dragged to his feet by two guards.

He's been feeling off for days, hot and cold dominating his body, fever claiming him.

The last thing Jaime see's is his eyes staring back at him, green and cold- eyes from years before he found _her -_ on the face of a woman.

-

The fever takes Jaime for a week. He vision swims between the present and past.

He says a lot of stuff he wanted to say to _her_ \- even when Cersei wipes his forehead every night.

But he never says _her_ name.

He forbids himself to.

He tells _her_ that he never wanted to leave, that he had to. He tells _her_ that she's beautiful even if others mock her. He confesses his love to _he_ _r_ , and only _her_.

Cersei replies that she knows all of this and that she loves him too.

In his dreams, the rotten hand tries to grow back, but Jaime cuts it off every single time.

-

The fever breaks when he wakes one morning, the arms around him feel familiar but not in the right way

so Jaime closes his eyes and thinks of falling deep into blue.

-

Jaime is standing by Cersei's side in the Great Hall the next day. A new cloak of red and yellow present on his back, the same one strapped over his sister's shoulder.

-

Cersei is winning the war. Even with one last dragon though, Daenerys still manages to burn whatever she can down. It's not just soldiers- but stables and farms even several make-shift houses.

It's clear the Dragon Queen has gone quite insane as the hours drive on, and when Greyworm falls to misfire from Drogon- she becomes totally unhinged and begins to even attack her own fighters as well as the Northmen.

Cersei is practically grinning into goblet as she watches the display. She doesn't even care to look when Euron Greyjoy is taken prisoner by Yara who demands Cersei hand over the throne for his life.

Jaime only watches Euron look at his sister with betrayal before Yara twists his head and he becomes just another body.

Cersei holds his hand to her stomach, her eyes twinkling with such glee.

Finally, she drives them away towards the bed and pushes him down onto it.

Cersei straddles him and claims his lips harshly, to which he responds with his eyes closed.

She yanks at his tunic harshly but quickly gives up.

"The child... we got to be careful," Jaime whispers, his eyes finally opening to view the monster on top of him.

Cersei laughs at this and brings his hand to her stomach again.

"Our child will be conceived tonight. It won't be like the others. It will finally be safe for us Jaime, you can be a father." She said, she cried then. They could be a family. King and Queen without anyone standing against them.

Jaime stared up at her with pure joy and then swung them around so she was beneath him.

Cersei grinned, the future was set for her, when she finally could cry no more, her hand went into his breeches but found her to her surprise that he wasn't aroused.

"Why aren't you...?" She said before Jaime brought his hand down onto her throat

. He saw fear well up in her eyes as she realized that Jaime intended to kill her.

She didn't understand- they could finally be together so why?

"I lost my hand... for Brienne." Jaime started.

She refocused on what he was saying.

"I jumped into a bear-pit... for Brienne." He continued, her face was turning red.

"I rode North... for Brienne." Cersei's legs were kicking at the sheets as she desperately tried to fight off his grip.

"I love her. She's the only person I have ever truly loved. Brienne is more beautiful than you could ever wish to be."

The realization hit Cersei moments before she died.

Maggie The Frog's laughter cackled in her ear, and the last thing Cersei felt was pure hatred.

The Jaime she loved had died some time ago. Rotted away along with his right hand

-

The war went on for a couple more hours before someone came to claim the Throne.

Daenerys had gone completely mad, and when Drogon fell so did the last of Daenerys's resolve.

She vowed to kill everyone in KIngslanding- and it was only when she heard Ser Mormant call to her that she had opened her arms and accepted the knife that Arya pressed into her.

Jon Snow was torn up by her death but knew she was to far gone.

Jaime was on the throne when Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister stepped in, he offered the realm to Jon who refused it.

He wanted to go North and join the Freefolk- he wanted to be free of the circle.

So Tyrion Lannister was offered the Throne instead. Tyrion could join the North and South back together- he had allies everywhere after all and not just in Lord's and Lady's.

The coronation was set after the clean-up and many of the people of Kingslanding went to work straight away- rebuilding what they had lost.

-

The clean up went on for 3 months- the Northmen and the remaining Lannisters worked together to rebuild Kings Landing.

The first week was dedicated to the dead. People from all backgrounds mourned their fallen family, friends or lovers.

Even Tyrion mourned.

For Daenerys, for the soldiers and even Cersei.

Jaime and Tyrion were the only ones at Cersei's funeral- it was short and private.

Cersei was dressed in red and gold and Tyrion had painted her eyes on rocks while Jaime had lit the candles.

They each stood for a moment over her without saying anything before Tyrion broke the silence.

"I'm sorry it had to be you." He said.

Jaime stared at his sister's face, and the eyes they both shared- hers were forever closed while his eyes remained open.

"I'm not," Jaime replied with a sad smile.

-

When the day of the coronation came. The streets were filled with cheer.

Lannister colors flew alongside Stark sigils and music flowed as did the wine.

The stories of what Jaime did for the realm not only once, but twice were one of the best stories shared- Queenslayer, Kingslayer- it mattered not- Tyrion made sure his brother was celebrated and rewarded with honor.

Jaime didn't think he deserved it and nor did he want it, there was only one person that could make him happy.

When the news of Sansa Stark approaching the Captial arrived, Tyrion had to all but beg Jaime not to run off.

Tyrion was nervous enough as it was, he vowed not to be drunk during his coronation- and was determined to make a good impression on his people.

Jaime stood by the throne as he watched the guests pour in.

Most houses were from the south but some came from the Stormlands- including to his surprise- Tarth. Lord Selwyn Tarth was among those that joined the rest of the lords at the front and Tyrion had to hiss to Jaime not to say anything.

And then at last in came Sansa Stark who practically glowed with beauty. Tyrion was captivated by her beauty, Jaime was not- he was to busy searching for golden hair.

-

Jaime approached Sansa after the ceremony, he was nervous, grabbing her hand and kneeling to her while and to the others ladies he looked utterly besotted with Sansa.

Which was why it came to a shock when Jaime bolted off the moment Sansa said something, he didn't even give her second glance as he raced out of the Hall.

Sansa chuckled and turned to Tyrion who lifted his goblet and winked at her.

-

Jaime had been banging his fist against the door for a good minute before Pod opened it.

Pod tried to say something but Jaime pushed his way in and searched for Brienne.

And there she was, sitting on a bed by the window, the sun pouring onto her face, sunbursts lighting parts of her up.

She turned her head slowly to look at Jaime, her body twisted around and he could see her hand cradling her swollen stomach where their child resided.

Time stopped for a moment- their eyes meeting for the first time in months- and he was captivated by her blue eyes, hurt and rejection reflecting back at him.

And then Jaime stepped forward and pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry." He gasped,

"Don't..." Brienne mumbled into his shoulder, but he just kept repeating the words while cradling her and soon the walls fell and she sagged in his grip and wept.

-

Selwyn Tarth had been a bit skeptical of Jaime at first, he didn't take quickly to the idea of giving his daughter away to the man that broke her heart.

Brienne was honestly his pride and joy, the only living family he had left.

When he let her go to serve Renly, he had expected him to reject her- he expected her to come back. She never did. She wrote to him of course, mainly on what the North was like and how well the Starks treated her but she never disclosed anything remotely personal.

That all changed with her last letter, she spoke of having been loved and losing love in the space of a month. Of gaining a taste of happiness for it to turn sour when things started to go wrong with the ongoing war.

She wished to have died without knowing what it felt like to have been held by another, for then she could have died with hope and not heartbreak.

Sewyln traced the faded blotches where her tears had fallen- his arms ached to hold her in her time of need.

Instead, he begged her to be strong, he begged her to live.

There wasn't any more news of her from that day on- and he feared for his daughter.

But several months later there was news of the Kingslayer.

Jaime Lannister had brought an end to his sister's reign, and Selwyn realized the name echoed throughout a lot of Brienne's previous messages.

Kingslayer turned into Ser _Jaime_ and then finally just _Jaime,_  ink visibly pressed lightly into the pages as though the name alone had been written slowly and carefully.

Selwyn wasn't stupid- he knew his daughter.

She had written her mother and brothers name like that just after they passed- she wrote Renly's name like that.

Selwyn decided to travel to the coronation to find answers.

What he did not expect was Jaime dropping down to his knees and begging the man for his daughter's hand.

He spoke his daughter's name as though it was fragile, he spoke about her honor and her strength- and then he finally told him about the child.

Selwyn had made a mistake once. He recalled the ball that brought his daughter brief joy before the boys that danced with her broke down and laughed.

He watched her heart get crushed and felt largely responsible for it, he couldn't watch her go through that again.

But then Jaime started speaking.

"I love you daughter. she's the only reason I'm standing here today. I'm a better and more honorable man because of her. And I wanted to stay in Winterfell, I wanted each day to end with her by my side. But you have to understand we were losing the war- my sister would have marched soldiers North and Brienne would have fought; she wouldn't have stopped." Jaime's voice broke slightly, he remembered the wights overpowering her- swallowing Brienne up as he screamed her name.

"I broke her heart- because she's stubborn and hotheaded and stupidly noble and she would've followed me; Cersei would have made me watch her die and I couldn't... I couldn't-"

The hand that came down on Jaime's shoulder came as a surprise to him. There was a brief moment when Jaime looked up through blurred vision and deliriously thought his father was in front of him, the sun catching his silver hair as Tywin offered his hand to Jaime.

But the illusion faded after a single moment and Jaime accepted Selwyns hand instead.

-

Later when Jaime proposed to Brienne, he took her outside, away from the eyes of the palace and into the secluded garden, he took her right hand and asked her to stay with him, always. And the rest was history. 

**Author's Note:**

> I stupidly read the leaks yesterday- don't do it. I wish I could turn back the clock everything feels so broken right now. 
> 
> Also, I'm sorry to Daenerys fans, and I'm sorry that I didn't really add more details, characters etc. 
> 
> I just wanted to write something fluffy to make things hurt less. 
> 
> I actually started to write 2 other fics but I don't think I will post them.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading x


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